RONNIE O’SULLIVAN gave fierce rival Ali Carter a surprisingly warm greeting ahead of their World Snooker Championship clash.
The rivals were drawn in the opening round of the historic tournament last week.
And ahead of Tuesday’s tussle at the Crucible, snooker fans around the world were wondering if the pair would put their feud to one side.
The duo were cordial with one another before their match got underway.
But rather than fist-bump his opponents, O’Sullivan extended a handshake out to Carter.
And Carter sportingly accepted the offer from the seven-time world champion.
BBC cameras failed to capture the moment, much to the frustration of snooker fans.
But co-commentator Stephen Hendry informed viewers of the pair’s embrace live on air before it was shown following the frame.
He said: “They shook hands, not the normal fist bump that Ronnie gives.
“Quite a warm handshake. That’s good to see.”
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D113110%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]O’Sullivan and Carter used to be close practice partners when they were teenagers in Essex.
But their friendship began to deteriorate after Carter got the better of ‘The Rocket’ at the 2018 World Snooker Championship.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Ronnie O’Sullivan makes 147 in warm-up for Snooker World Championship in major hint he’ll play ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6371269951112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Their feud reached fever pitch at the 2024 Masters final, when O’Sullivan shoulder barged his rival.
Recalling the incident, Carter, 45, said: “I’m thinking, ‘Does he want me to get out of the way?’ I was aware there was no giving way.
“The referee said, ‘Calm down lads’ and I did play a bit of a game.
“I thought I’m not going to let him have the last word.
“He said, ‘I’m cool as a cucumber’, but he looked like he wanted to kill me. He looked absolutely raging.
“He said, ‘That’s because you’re Mr Angry.’ I said, ‘Thank you’.”
During an appearance on Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips, he added: “He used to come over to Witham and we practised together.
“When, all of a sudden, we’re competitors, I’d find times where he wouldn’t say hello.
“I don’t know too much about him. I hold no malice now. I’m not around him enough for him to feature in my life.
“We know he’s a great player. As to anything else, I let people make their own minds up. Whatever you say, the staunch Ronnie fans will always slaughter you.
“Ronnie uses his authority to say, ‘This is my table, you’re just taking part’. You constantly feel him there. Fair enough, if that’s what he feels he needs to do to win.
“I’ve played Mark Williams and John Higgins many times and with those guys it’s a fair game. There’s none of that nonsense involved.”